This Year I…

Had a traumatic experience- but learned who was really in my corner.

Graduated with my Masters degree- Finally.

Attended Cassandra’s Marie’s Danse des Fleurs- and met some new wonderful friends and reconnected with some beautiful souls.

Went to court- and started on Ativan.

Finished our Unnamed Poker League- definitely not in first place!

Lost a job- but not the true friends I had met there.

Planned a wedding- and found it stressful for reasons I’d never imagined.

Blew a super important interview- I was just so nervous.

Learned how to make fried rice.

Celebrated my Dirty 30 birthday- the same night as my bachelorette party.

Got laid off from the job I had had for 5 years- I never thought I’d be unemployed after finishing graduate school, but enjoyed the break.

Got married to Mr. Right- and then mini-mooned in Las Vegas.

Danced with my Grandpa again, but for the first time in I don’t know how many years.

Lost Matt’s aunt- and regretted not being a better friend to her.

 

Started selling my crafts in a local store- keeping busy while out of work.

Did my first and second craft show- even though it was a bust.

Went to my first poker game without Matt- and still had a blast.

Grew so much closer to some people- even some who I never thought there would ever be closeness with.

Got flown out by a potential employer to interview- and learned how to be confident.

Got a new job in research- from academia to industry, but a lateral move…

Moved out of my home state- I always wanted to prove myself, but I miss home.

Let a relationship go- I am still sad and think about it often, but my time with her was at an end.

Celebrated our first Christmas as a married couple away from all our friends and family- it was good, but sad, too.

And tonight we will celebrate the new year together, with Bella, at home.

Good and bad, it has been an event packed year for sure!

What will the new year bring?

And the winner is…

Number 6!!

Karen Valentine

But don’t fret…  I’ve reached 100 followers thanks to Molly Knox!!!  A celebratory giveaway soon to follow!

Giveaways!

Today, I wanted to share with you three fabulous giveaways!

First, Shelly is giving away a customized handmade lace trim necklace!

You won’t win the necklace shown here- instead, Shelly will create one in the colors of your choice!

But hurry!  This giveaway ends November 15th!  Click Here to go visit Shelly at Bungalow Bling!

The second giveaway is for a veritable treasure of French farmhouse goods!

Becky is giving you the chance to enter to win not one, but 7 different pieces!  But hurry, her giveaway ends November 15th, too!  Click Here to visit Junk to Joy!

 

And last, but certainly not least, Rebecca is giving you a chance to win a vintage train case, ready for you to alter!

To enter, and for more ideas on how you could create one of these beauties, click Here to visit A Gathering Place!

 

And speaking of giveaways, don’t forget to enter my mini giveaway, one post below!!  I see I almost have 100 followers, too!!  Once I reach that magical number, I’ll definitely have a super spectacular giveaway to celebrate!

Antique Jewelry Hull, a New Project, and a Giveaway!

Happy November!

This past weekend, I visited a local antique store for the first time. Actually, I had tried to go there before, but I got totally lost!

Ok, I also got lost this time….And I was only 5 miles away from it!!!

It took me an hour to find it- thank goodness for cellphones with internet on them!

Luckily, I *did* find it! I found a gorgeous blue headband with silk millinery, and tons and tons of jewelry!

Most of the earrings and pins I bought were only $1-1.50!!

Dazzling rhinestones in pink and blue…

Blue, white, and cream pearls, cameo earrings, and a sweet necklace.

This weekend, I also worked on a new style of my Noel blocks.

These ones are covered with flocked vintage wallpaper and have the silver German glass glitter lettering. Which ones do you like better?

Lastly, in celebration of the upcoming holiday season, I’m having a giveaway!

Up for grabs is a splendidly sweet altered mini notebook. It’s embellished with vintage millinery, rhinestones, and even has a cute little bookmark to save your spot. I will also include a few more surprises for the winner

You can earn up to 3 entries- please leave a separate comment for each entry and I will draw a winner at random on November 10th:

1. Leaving a comment on this post will earn you 1 entry.

2. Liking Splendidly Sweet’s Facebook Page will earn you another comment.

3. And posting a link from your blog to mine will earn you a third entry.

Good Luck!

The Meaning of Our Wedding

For so long, I’ve struggled with this post. Most likely because I had struggled to define what a “wedding” truly was.

Our wedding was August 5th.

The ceremony was Matt and mine.

We chose the readings; even though Matt is not religious, he let me include some bible passages and he chose some poems. My family was included in the ceremony, even though they could all not be part of the wedding party.

Matt read “These I Can Promise” and I cried when I read back “Love” by Roy Croft.

(I didn’t make it past the first line without starting to cry.)

We exchanged rings, kissed, and held hands.

But that was only the first 15 minutes of the “wedding”- the part that was for us.

The rest of the wedding was for a memory…

The dresses… (The girls wore vintage slip dresses, handmade by Amanda Rose.)

The fans…

The flowers…

The venue…

The little pieces I made, even the photographer missed- the remembrance candles, the table numbers, the guest book… Everything our wedding was about was for family (and friends, you are our family, too).

Our wedding wasn’t just about the vows, the dresses, the rings, the flowers… It was about the people who came to it, who love us, who are our Family. We put so much of ourselves into designing the perfect evening for our guests *because* we were not only celebrating our union, but those people who came to share it with us. At least, this is how I felt through the whole process.

And that’s what made it a little heartbreaking when people who were expected to be there didn’t show up. And I don’t just mean friends and family from out of town- Matt’s own grandparents and my uncle didn’t come. They didn’t just not show up- their RSVP was a decline. It’s easy to say it’s their loss- the other guests would say they missed great food and a beautiful party- but it is our loss, too. However, I have become more thankful for the people who chose to be part of our lives and appreciate us ever more so.

There were so many ups and downs, excitement and disappointments, happiness and tears that were unexpected. But in the end, it was a labor of love, in many different ways, and what memories were made to look back on!

Beads, Beautiful Beads!

Sarah hosted a bead swap recently and I was lucky to participate!

When I received my package, I was giddy with excitement!  It’s been so long since I’ve participated in a swap!

Inside were 3 precious gifts from my talented partner, Rhea!

The first piece was a delicate embellished piece of china Rhea altered into a wall hanging.  I think I’ve found the perfect spot in my studio for it!

In this box, I found a stunning piece of jewelry with pink and blue rhinestones wrapped inside a vintage handkerchief!  Just gorgeous!

I saved the largest box for last… because it was my favorite, and I almost died when I took it out of the box!!  Such beautiful cream and blue!

In it, was another vintage handkerchief holding hand picked beads…

Such beautiful beads!!  Glass, mother of pearl, swarovski, czech glass, chandelier crystals…  All in an array of pinks, light blue, and a creamy white!

I must say, I was nervous making a package for Rhea!  I wanted to find the perfect beads and focal point for her!

Our colors were very similar, though, and I re-learned what was aqua and what was light blue!  Lol

So I chose these pink, aqua, white and cream beads for her…

And placed them inside a rose trinket box I embellished with pink swarovski crystals…

And then I stamped a kraft box with French text and graced it with pink and aqua handmade roses, vintage lace, and bling to send off the beads and some surprises!  (You can check out her blog to find out what those were and also see her amazing cakes and other goodies while you’re there!  http://www.sweetnshabbyroses.blogspot.com/)

Rhea spoiled me silly!!  I totally adored her altered boxes and hand-picked beads- Thank you SO MUCH, Rhea!  And thank you, Sarah, for pairing the two of us- it was so much fun picking out beads!  I can’t wait for the next swap!